UFC 118 Post Post

The UFC made its presence felt in Boston for the 1st time, but are we celebrating UFC 118 as an elite card. Or perhaps, a failed gimmick.

Frankie Edgar Is NOT Boring (Gray Maynard IS)

First things 1st. Frankie Edgar whipped BJ Penn's ass and barely anybody cares. The overwhelming talk is that the rematch with Gray Maynard is going to be boring as hell and impossible to sell. Its a bit harsh to lump Frankie in with Gray who has not shown us any improvement in the offensive category though you cannot deny his wrestling prowess. To me, Maynard is what is wrong with wrestling in MMA today while Edgar represents what is right. When both men came into the league they were both very much amateur wrestlers with a cursory knowledge of the other MMA art forms. Edgar not only added those tools to his arsenal, he found rhythm and confidence in his stand up which elevated his game to embarrassing BJ Penn. The "Bully" still uses his L&P method to, granted, control his opponents in dominant fashion but who the hell wants to watch it? Positioning from the top is one thing, but an almost absence of strikes until the referee threatens to stand you up, is weak and lame. Yes you can win with that and I've often said if you don't like it, do something about it. The problem is that wrestling creates such control in MMA today, that even if you are landing from the bottom, good luck getting a judge to notice. Also, this shit of if a guy gets a takedown than he is winning the fight is over. Many guys take their opponent down only to have him instantly back to his feet. The takedown did nothing and the transition or escape should be awarded. This never happens. I don't know what to do about this and really, BJJ dominates for a while, then wrestling, and eventually something else since life runs in circles. I guess I'll just have to wait this boring season out.

• Edgar landed 142 strikes, 3 takedowns, 15 leg strikes
• Penn landed 56 strikes, 2 takedowns, 0 leg strikes

BJ "The Prodical" Penn

What do you do to motivate BJ Penn now? People are clamoring for Penn/Gomi 2 but why would BJ even want it? He's probably not even going to want the Lightweight fight as he has acted all this time as if 155 was beneath him. He'll say something about "legacy" and wanting big fights probably like Urijah Faber in the WEC. I would rather both men focus on owning the gold strap again. The one thing I know, is that BJ's head is always going to be a problem. You could see it in his face before the 4th round that he had given up. He didn't try to pick up the tempo or even mix in more takedowns and varying strikes. Nothing.

Bridgeport's Own, Owned!

Joe Lauzon is getting so much love on the Internet for his 1-sided "Demolishment," of Gabe Rudiger. "Godzilla," it could not have happened to a better guy and not shaking "J-Lau's" hand because of a semi-funny web video is ghey. So was your ice cream cake move at the weigh-in. "Creepy Joe" isn't ready for a title shot but he is ready for a step up in competition.

Give Davis His Due

Nate Diaz just murdered Marcus Davis who needs to realize, its time to retire or take a long layoff. I'm not hating on "IHG," in fact I am a big fan. But his face cannot take punishment after a career of boxing and now MMA at age 37. Too much scar tissue and frankly he is too slow for the ultra-fast Welterweight division. His power once protected him but he could not even reach Diaz Saturday. Keep this in mind though. He was the 1st boxer to truly pick up all the facets of the MMA game. That is something I have not seen from any other boxer turned MMA fighter! Nate Dogg is healthy at 170 though he wants to bounce back to Lightweight sometimes. Why? There is nothing to gain there and he's not going to get Gray Maynard any time soon even though he asked Dana White at the post fight press conference in front of the "Bully" which was pretty funny. Most impressive victory of Kid Nate's career.

Dana Killed Kenny

Dana White used the words, “Kenny chokes in big fights.” I don't know that to be true and damn that seems harsh. Since becoming the most improved MMA fighter of all time, Kenny Florian has only lost to BJ Penn and now Gray Maynard. The kid straight whips ass but wasn't ready for the title shot with Sean Sherk, or near the caliber of fighter he is now. I don't think the dream dies here and he is exciting enough, and young enough to work his way back up again. The problem will be with what this does to Florian mentally. Losing a title shot and doing it the 1st time the UFC comes to your home. That's tough homie. I believe "Kenflo" will return but I hope not against a much bigger fighter who is going to dry hump him for 15 minutes.

Boston Wins!

How much did Dana White love bringing his product back to his hometown only to hear the crowd chant “UFC, UFC, UFC!” when his boy Randy Couture faced down the predominant boxing voice today in the supposed MMA vs boxing bout? BLAF has come full circle and congratulations to the man who runs the best MMA promotion of all time.

The Eloquent Orca

Randy Couture did say James Toney verbally quit but the referee didn’t hear it. The game planning Couture also told how the seldom used low single leg isn’t used much in MMA, but his old wrestling coach thought it would work. I think anything would work since Toney obviously didn't give a damn. The media is actually giving dap to a guy for actually fulfilling a signed contract, which he proved he didn’t even take seriously by not training and doing an impression of an orca, but I digress. James Toney showed up for his payday and duped everyone into believing there was the slightest chance in hell he could even dream of being effective in an MMA fight. He could not. James Toney makes Kimbo Slice look like Georges St. Pierre.

Misc. Notes

Gray Maynard is as bad an interview as he is a fighter to watch. He killed the momentum during the PPV and decided to ruin what ever flavor was left for the MMA Live crew on ESPN for the post game show. He is like a smaller version ofMatt Lindland that you love to hate. I just wanted to express that.

Mario Miranda looked completely out of his depth and I don't see Demian Maia ever competing for the UFC strap again.

Mike Pierce won again and nobody cared.

Shaq called out Hong Man Choi for a fight and also Tito Ortiz if he was 15 years younger.

Jenna Jameson and Mrs. Frank Mir are in a Tweet war. I'm not sure why this is news but it keeps popping up and any opportunity I have to call Tito's slut a whore, I'm gonna use.

I have no idea why Wanderlei Silva was there dressed as a leprechaun this weekend.